The Runaway
by CreativityInACage
Summary: Jack Shepard's life before being a soldier- An orphan and druggie condemned to a life on the mean streets, until the death of someone important changes everything. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**I haven't written anything for a whilee…but schools ending and I finally have time too! Yayyy! Spellchecks not workinf so der mite be sum grammur/spelling ishoos =P**

**This takes place when Shepard was a teenagerand it'll move on from there. Enjoy! :)**

*****I just edited some grammar and stuff with help of my luverly friend, Kosher. 3**

**...**

"How much?"

Both Jack Shepard's hands and voiced trembled as his hungry gaze eyed the small plastic bag holding fine red powder.

"Fifteen Hundred."

Jack shook his head, his long shaggy hair fall over his eyes. "That's twice more than last time. Seven Fifty."

"Fifteen hundred. Last offer," The hoarse voice whispered.

Jack couldn't stop trembling. It'd been nearly four days since his last hit, but he couldn't let that show. He played one last gamble.

"No deal." Jack hesitantly began to walk out of the alley. He tooke four heavy, trembling steps before the voice spoke again.

"Seven fifty it is, kid, but don't expect me to be so nice next time."

Jack sighed in relief and forked out the money, in turn getting the plastic bag. He ran from the alley, going straight into another one near the corner of his neighborhood, hurriedly digging out a small tin pipe and matches from his pocket. His fingers struggled, but finally lit up the pipe and added in a pinch of the red sand. He slowly inhaled and exhaled, the feeling calming his nerves, creeping up his spine, enchanting his mind. He slowly let go of everything, from the wreck his own body had become to the thoughts of his sick mother lingering in his head. Slowly drowning into a puddle of fake happiness, he closed his eyes and sighed, prepared to be out for a few hours, until a voice invaded his thoughts.

"You shouldn't be doing that you know."

Kaidan Alenko's simple, calm, face looked at him half curious, half concerned. He sat down next to Jack, taking the drag from his lips and throwing it behind his shoulder. Jack swore at him.

"You've told me so five effing hundred times. Face it, I'm not gonna change."

"All that money could be used to help out your mom."

Jack turned and looked at him. "Remind me what part of town you live in Kaidan?"

Kaidan sighed. "That's not the point. It has nothing to do with-"

"Just look at our effing neighborhood. I'm one of the lucky ones Kaidan, and I live in an apartment the size fo your closet. Someone I know dies in some stupid gang fight or from drug overdose everyday. We have no schools. Nothing. You guys over at the eastern end of town? You don't need to ask for anything. It's given to you. Red sand, drugs, its the only good thing about this place. So don't tell me shit about what I should or shouldn't do, because theres nothing else I'm good for." Jack turned back again, his brooding gray eyes avoiding Kaidan's face.

Kaidan was silent for a few moments, then pulled a brochure out of his pocket. "I know," he said quietly. "Check this out. It might be your ticket out of here."

Jack didn't even turn around. "If it's some stupid Alliance shit, no. You should know better than to ask me of all people Kaidan."

Kaidan pressed on, ignoring Jack's protests. "It pays good, you get an education, you shoot people, it's all good Jack. You're good for this kind of stuff. The Alliance is a good cause. In a few months we'll both be eighteen and we can enroll together."

"Godammit Kaidan, you think after all that crap with my dad being in the Alliance im gonna join anytime soon? You go ahead, but im staying here and looking after Mom." He looked at Kaidan directly in the eyes. "And if the Alliance really was all that great, they'd do something about this lovely neighborhood instead of using all that money for their own selfish egos." Jack stood up and began to walk away. "Go home Kaidan, and enjoy life. You're not gonna find much here."

Jack walked down the street, not looking back to see if Kaidan had gone or not. As he walked up to their first floor apartment, he saw his mother laying on the single, grimy couch in the small room.

"Mom?" He tried to shake her awake. "I got your medicine." She looked fast asleep. He shook her again. She didn't even twitch.

Something was wrong.

He swore and gingerly placed two fingers on her neck.

Nothing. No pulse. Cold skin.

People from three blocks away could hear Jack's painful howl of wretchedness as a realization dawned on him.

She was dead.

...

**Should I hate myself for sucking? Should I reward myself with a Pina Colada because I'm so darn amazing? (probably not) Read and reviewww please! Suggestions always welcome :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**It's a little short, but the next one will be longer i promise (:**

**Enjoy! (if possible)**

...

Six hundred feet.

He knew that he would probably be dead before he hit the ground.

He sat on the edge of the cliff, his legs dangling over the edge. He knew jumping wouldn't do anything, but he still wanted to. But as much as he wanted to launch himself over the edge, he just couldn't do it. Sighing, he got up and walked along the trail back to the western end of town.

His mother had really been the only reason for his existence. Every day was about finding money for her medicine, to try and convince her that life would get better and his father would soon come back. And the more he tried to convince her, the more he started to believe it himself. But all that was gone now. He loved his mother, but not enough to mourn her for days at a time.

The first issue was the body. He could either bury her, or sell her corpse to one of the 'doctors' that would put her organs to good use.

But what would he do with the money?

It would probably get him enough red sand for three months at least.

But again, he began to doubt himself. How could he just give her body away? She was his mother after all.

His thoughts circled back. But what had she ever done for him? At least she was helping him in SOME way now.

He sighed. A conscience he didn't know he had took the better of him.

In the end, he decided to bury her.

….

Sweat gleamed on his forehead as he shoveled out the last of the dirt. He and Kaidan laid down their shovels, and walked over to the bundle of white sheets that encased Jack's mother. They each took one end, and gently lowered her down into the earth. Jack sat down, staring beyond the cliff where she was buried and into the horizon. As the last rays of the sun sank below where he could see them, he got up, and began to cover the grave. As Kaidan grabbed his shovel to help him, Jack stopped him.

"I'll do it by myself."

Kaidan nodded, and walked away, the image of Jack, alone and confused, digging the grave of the person closest to him forever etched into his mind.

….

"You're joking me."

The man in the suit looked entirely out of place in the dingy apartment, and the news he bought was even more incredulous. He'd arrived three days after the burial.

"I'm not joking at all, Jack. In a month you can collect the sum." The man gave a friendly smile and pulled out his card. "Here's my number. Any questions?"

Jack looked at him with wide eyes. "Why didn't my mom use the money? Where did it come from?"

The man shook his bald head. "Due to the nature of her illness, she probably forgot she had it at all. As for where she got it, you probably have a better idea than I do. All I know is that she left you the money and the key to a deposit box in her will."

Jack took a deep breath. "So once I'm eighteen, I can just…take it?"

The man nodded. "I'll help you out with the paperwork, of course."

Jack still felt uneasy. Two million credits. Too good to be true. "When did she write the will?"

The man opened a portfolio, briefly reading from it. "It was about three years ago."

"Why didn't she tell me about this?"

He shook his head again. "All I know is what's on the will."

"Do you know what's in the deposit box?"

"No. I'm not authorized to open it."

Jack nodded, still in deep thought.

The man stood up, and smoothed down his shirt. "Remember, any questions, call me." He started to walk out. "And I wouldn't tell anyone about this. Just in case."

Jack nodded, already having a bad feeling about this. Two million credits out of nowhere? His mother never mentioned it. Unless, it had something to do with his father. Either way, he would find out in a month.

No. A month was too long.

But maybe someone could answer his questions?

It was time to pay Miranda a visit.

...

**Read and review? please? *puppy dog eyes* you know you can't resist those**.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! woot! :))**

_..._

_Six Months Earlier_

Twenty or thirty feet high, the blindingly white marble houses stood on the edge of vast plots of lush green land. Even the birds seemed to like it better here; they flew animatedly around in circles. The air was fresh and clear, in sharp contrast to the polluted and dusty air Jack was used to breathing. His wide eyes looked around in longing. Here was everything that he ever wanted, so close to him. He could touch it, smell it, even breathe it- but he couldn't have it.

He slowly relaxed into the cab he and Kaidan were driving to his house, moving quickly and hovering a few inches off the ground. It dropped them off at the nearest cab stop.

"We can walk from here," Kaidan said, paying the driver. "It's about ten minutes away."

They walked along a dirt trail, and Jack could see a house jutting up from the even landscape.

"Is that your house?"

Kaidan shook his head. "Ours is right behind it. That's Prospero's house."

Jack squinted, looking at the dark, malicious looking house. "Who's Prospero?"

Although they were alone, Kaidan lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "Nobody really knows. He moved here a few months ago. He only comes out to go for a walk once in a while," he dropped his voice even lower "I heard he has a daughter, but he never lets her out."

Jack looked at it thoughtfully. "Really? Why would he do that?"

Kaidan kept walking. "No idea. Odd guy, that one is." He looked up. "There he goes right now. Walking around in a coat in this weather. Weird."

A tall, cloaked figure emerged from the house and started walking.

Jack poked him. "Let's go have a look then."

"What?"

"He's not at home. Let's see if he really does have a daughter then."

Kaidan looked at him incredulously. "You're insane you know that?"

Jack smirked. "Tell me something I _don't _know. Shall we go?"

"No." Kaidan said adamently. "He's freaking crazy, who knows he might have security systems and-"

"Aww, poor wittle Kaidan's scared!" Jack teased, and started to walk to the house. "I'm going even if you're not."

Kaidan rolled his eyes, and reluctantly followed Jack.

…..

"So, if there's a girl's room, where would it be?" Jack paced along the back of the house, peering up the high windows and around dark stone pillars.

"You sound like a rapist." Kaidan grumbled.

"There's a garden right there…hmm…" Jack looked up at the stone balcony overlooking the small garden. He looked at Kaidan. "This might be it."

"This is not a good idea Jack." Kaidan's voice was heavy with warning.

"Nothing I do ever is."

Kaidan spoke more urgently. "Let's get out of here. Who knows what this guy-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the glass door of the balcony slid open. Both teens looked up to see who would emerge.

It was indeed a girl, pale and delicate looking. She had long waves of auburn hair that tumbled down past her shoulders. She looked at them with wide eyes.

"Hi there!" Jack said brightly.

Kaidan did a facepalm.

The girl looked at them uncertainly. It was several moments before she spoke. "You should leave." Her voice was barely a whisper.

Jack gave her an inviting smile and raised an eyebrow. "Do you want us to?"

She practically trembled with uneasiness. But eventually, she gave in.

"I'm Miranda." She said.

…..

Jack and Miranda were much more than friends. For Miranda, Jack was a portal into the world she'd never seen before. For Jack, Miranda might have been the one chance at getting to have a real life.

She also had access to her father's computers. Which could help him find information on his father and mother.

He spent the last of the money he had on a cab. When he came to her house, he climbed up to the balcony and lightly knocked on the door. Within seconds, she appeared, and let him in.

"Jack." Miranda ran to him. She hadn't seen him for nearly a month.

"Miranda. So much stuff has happened." He sat down on the edge of her bed, burying his face in his hands. She immediatley came to his side.

"What's wrong?"

"Mom died."

Miranda inhaled sharply. "I'm so sorry."

"She also left me two million credits in a will."

"What? But if she had that much money…"

He sighed. "I know. That's part of the reason I came." He turned around to look at her. "I need to use your dad's computer to see if I can find anything on my parents."

"Of course, Jack. Here I'll go get it."

She came back a few moments later with a black laptop.

"Alright. Just type in their names here. Father has access to classified Alliance records too?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that legal?"

"Nope."

"Nice." He got no hits on his mother's full name. He typed in 'Shepard' into the Alliance engine. Fifty six hits.

"Try that one." Miranda pointed to one named "Jack Shepard". Jack opened it.

The first thing they saw was the picture of the soldier. The resemblance was astounding.

They had the same bright green eyes, the same high cheekbones, and slightly crooked nose. It could have been Jack himself after ten years.

"God." Jack was breathless. It was his father. He could feel Miranda's hand gently taking his arm.

"Scroll down." She said.

Jack scrolled down passed useless information, until he found an interesting note. "What the hell?"

Miranda looked at what he was pointing at. She gasped. "His names been put forward to be a spectre?"

"The first human to be given that honor," he said bitterly. "A soldier that forgets his wife and kid and leaves them to die. Really honorable of him. What a great fucking dad." He shut the console.

"I'm sorry Jack." Miranda didn't know what to say.

"It's not your fault. It's his."

She held him close. "What are you going to do?"

He closed his eyes, deep in thought. "I'm going to join the Alliance."

"What?"

"I'm going to join them. Then I'll find him. And I'll make him answer to what he's done." He stood up, and walked out. "It's his fault she died."

He turned around, and looked sadly at Miranda. "This is the last time I'll see you for awhile."

She nodded, avoiding his gaze. "Goodbye, Jack."

"All I get is a goodbye?" He said playfully.

She looked at him, and ran into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

…..

Thoughts? Review!


	4. Chapter 4

_One Month Later_

He walked with Kaidan, and turned back one more time to look at the city that had been his prison for eighteen years.

Dark, dusty, crooked, but home.

Goodbye, he thought.

Screw the inheritance. Screw the deposit box. It was a new life he was starting in the army, tied with one link to his old one.

The recruitment office was in a tall, glass building just on the edge of the east part of town.

"You ready?" Kaidan asked. Jack took a deep breath.

"Let's do it."

They walked in to the air conditioned room, where three other men were sitting on a bench. The desk in front had a bored looking solider sitting there in full uniform.

"You here to join?" He asked. They nodded. "Fill out this paperwork. I need IDs as well." He handed them two clipboards.

It was standard stuff. Name gender, date of birth, asking about illnesses or medications. They both filled it out and put their IDs on top. The solider took a few moments to look over them, and nodded.

"Just step into that room there for drug testing, and you can catch the weekly ship to the boot camp in about three hours."

Jack and Kaidan glanced at each other. Jack swallowed, and nodded. "Alright."

They stepped in, where a woman in a nurse's uniform drew their blood. She took Kaidan's blood first. She emptied it into a vial connected to a machine. After a few minutes, it let out a beep.

"You're clear." She said.

Oh God. Please let the Red Sand have worn off. Jack pulled up his shirt sleeve, counting the moments until the machine would beep him through.

It beeped. Jack silently exhaled in relief.

"Clear." She said. She handed them two tickets. "These are for getting on the trip. Boot Camp starts on monday." She turned back to her console. "Good to have you on the team." She said in an uninterested drawl.

"Everyone here seems pretty worn-out." Jack commented as they walked out.

"If I joined the Alliance, the last thing I would want is to sit behind a desk or draw blood." Kaidan remarked.

"Good point."

….

One day later, they landed.

They weren't on an actual planet, but one of it's moons. The entire landscape was dominated by buildings bearing the Alliance seal, fields filled with drill equipment, shooting ranges, barracks, and a small spaceport where they landed.

Jack wlaked in with the other thirty or so recruits, and the first thing they noticed was that the place was hot.

_Really hot._

Within seconds, they started fidgetting in their khaki uniforms and wiping sweat off their foreheads.

They were given a few minutes to set their bunks up in the barracks, and then they reported to the mess hall where the Commander of the camp would talk to them.

Jack ended up bunking near Kaidan, and two other recruits. They were twins, named Joel and Benji. They seemed decent enough, Jack thought.

…..

The chatter in the hall ceased immediatley as the commander entered. He was everything the average recruit wanted to be. They wanted to be the man in the pressed suit, two soliders by his side ready to die for him, and a hand cannon handy on his belt. Of course, Jack wasn't the average recruit.

He hated him.

His loud, demanding voice.

His self-righteous clothing, weighed down by ten or eleven badges.

Those two, clueless soldiers who could have been so much more, but were doomed to be the trophy guards of a madman.

He was the man who sent hundreds, even thousands to their deaths every morning with his cup of coffee. Right now he was laughing at his own joke as he talked to the recruits.

At that moment, he vowed never to be like him. As every eye watched the commander in awe, his eyes projected pure hatred.

…

They started out with a ten kilometer run. A lot of the new recruits had a hard time with that, but not Jack. Nope, he had experience, running away from dealers and loan sharks through town.

Then there were drills. Pushups, sit ups, all that stuff. Even Jack admitted he was a little tired afterwards.

Ok, _really _tired.

And the best part of the day was the end, right after they swam across a lake while a chief chased after them in a motorboat.

Shooting practice.

The warm feeling of a grip frame as it rested in his palm, seeing his reflection in the slide, his thumb carressing the safety as he fingered the trigger.

Unfortunatley, you didn't get shooting practice every day until you were six weeks in. Everyone groaned at the news.

After dinner, the new recruits were sent to scrub down the messhall. A chief came to Jack.

"Commander wants to see you." he said, smirking as he turned around. Jack heart nearly came up his throat.

Why did he want to see him? Why so early?

He went to the office, which smelled like leather and textbooks, and stood at attention.

"At ease soldier. Sit down."

Jack sat.

"I'm going to come out and say it." He leaned forward. "Your drug test came back positive."

His heart skipped a beat. "They told me I was-"

The Commander shook his head. "What they told _you _is irrelevant. What they told me, however, is entirely relevant." He sat back.

"However, they noticed it was a very slight amount. Which means we are willing to let you in as long as you perform up to task." He took a sip out of a glass on his desk. "We expect this, even if you are going through withdrawal. After today's spectacular performance, I believe you'll get through that."

"Thank you sir."

"Dismissed."

Jack got up, and as he turned the door handle, the Commander spoke.

"You will make a fine solider Jack. I can see it in your eyes."

…..

Woot! Read and review!


	5. Chapter 5

_Week Three_

Benji, the younger twin, was sick. _Really _sick. He couldn't walk three feet without puking on the ground. His forehead radiated heat, his nose ran constantly, and his hands trembled.

However, it wasn't just him. Everyone in the cabin had a fever and runny noses. For Jack, it was different, he'd been expecting it, but it hit everybody else like a stone, and at the same time. Everyone else in the other cabins were fine, however.

"What do you think's wrong?" Jack said as he woke up. Withdrawal wasn't contagious, was it?

"Someone must have gotten a bug. Probably contagious." Kaidan said as he yawned. "Think they're gonna make us do the drills?"

Joel came in with three thermoses of coffee in his arms, and gave one to Kaidan and Jack. Benji couldn't stomach anything except plain water. "Probably," He spoke in his deep, cool voice. "Well, us three will. I told the chief about Benji and they're gonna send someone to look at him."

Jack swore, and threw up his arms. "If the bastards even make him _walk _to the infirmary, I swear-"

"Why do you always call them that?" Joel asked, his face curious.

"Call them what?"

"Bad words."

Kaidan chuckled, and walked out to join the others in the mess for the daily run. Jack followed.

"No idea what you're talking about, Joel." The door slammed.

* * *

The hot weather didn't make it any easier to do the runs. You would have thought after twenty one days of constant heat, no air conditioning, they would have gotten used to it. Forty five degrees Celsius, a hundred and thirteen farenheit, running, drilling, swimming, even cleaning. But that kind of heat was impossible to get used to. To make matters worse, everyone was only allowed one, ten minute shower a day. Everyone hurried to get a decent lather on the soap, wash the shampoo out of their hair so it wouldn't sting their eyes, and try and remove the lingering smell of sweat that would come back less than an hour later.

Couple that with a fever, and it was hell. Jack usually led the runs, a few feet in front of the others, but today he struggled a few feet behind everyone with Kaidan and Joel.

"This-" Jack panted, "Should be-"

"Illegal." Kaidan finished for him. They could see the two poles that marked the end of the run just above the last hill.

"Keep going." Joel said, never failing to keep his calm. "We're better than the rest, even if we are sick."

"Right." Jack said, and he believed it.

* * *

_Week Six_

The sickness wasn't random. No, it was perfectly planned. They put something in the food, one cabin after another. After one week, the sickness had passed for Jack's group, the same time the next cabin got sick. When their's ended, the next one started, and so on,except the last two cabins got sick at the same time. All five cabins were clear now. Benji must have had an allergic reaction to whatever they put, making everything more severe. He'd been stuck in the informary for four days before he could finally participate again.

For the rest, the sickness hadn't been just a flu- it made them exhausted, their noses started bleeding, and they went in and out of bouts of horrible depression. For Jack, it was worse than Benji- Tremors, insomnia, waking up drenched it stone cold sweat, wheezing, even hallucinations. Every step was a mountain trying to be moved, every breath pressing against his chest as if he was going to burst. At one point, suicide wasn't such a bad option- but with Kaidan, Joel, and Benji, he got through. Barely, but he did. He still felt like crap, but he was healthy now. The worst part was, while doing the runs, the Commander came to watch a few days, his steely eyes following Jack tauntingly. You can't do it, they said. You're too weak, too cowardly, not strong enough.

He'd proved them wrong.

* * *

Much to the recruits' happiness, the drills after were cancelled because the Commander wanted to talk to them, probably about the sicknesses and how things would change from here on out- after all, Boot Camp was halfway over with.

The hall was set the same way the first day they had come. Jack took a seat in the middle row beside Kaidan, Joel, and Benji. Once everyone sat down, the Commader entered the room, the same two stone faced guards at his side. He stood behind the dark wooden podium and began to speak, the five chiefs sitting behind them, eyeing the recruits thoughtfully, leaning forward like a wild cat about to spring on it's prey.

"Good evening, soliders. As you know, today marks the halfway point between the beginning of boot camp, and the beginning of your life as a solider." he pausedm looking down. "Before I say more, I believe you have some questions reguarding the last few weeks. You may have caught on, that we put agents in your food to make you a little sick. If you think that, you are correct. You may think it was cruel, but we did it for a reason." He stopped leaning forward, and began to pace. "Out there, in the real world, you will face conditions thousands of times worse that what you experience here. You don't believe me now, but one day you will thank me for preparing you. You, one day, will have to perform operations that will affect history for generations, whether you're sick or not. Any normal man, under those circumstances, will not be thinking of right and wrong, good or evil- only of survival." He started walking down the rows, eyeing each soldier individually. The next line surprised Jack.

"But not us." He paused. "We are the Alliance. Before our lives, before our wants and needs, we put the needs of other. No mere though such as death or pain ever affects our judgement. That is why you're here. You're not being trained to shoot things- you're being trained to shoot _the enemy._" He walked back to his podium. "Remember, soldiers, it is not the gun that kills a man. It is the man that kills a man." His voice became distant, his eyes focusing on nowhere in particular, as if remembering something, until suddenly, he cleared his throat.

"Congratulations to each of you for making it this far. You will all make fine soldiers, I'm sure of that. However, your time here has come to an end. Tomorrow, we will be getting fresh new recruits, while you will be transferred to another facility to complete your training. It is on Sochen, one of the moons of the planet Noveria. I believe we have some recruits from there here today," he said, nodding at two fair haired recruits.

"Supposed to be hella cold there." Benji murmured to Jack.

"The physical part of your training is complete. No, don't be mistaken, you'll still be doing runs and drills, just not as many." He smiled. "Over there you'll be on the shooting range, learning about interrogations, heavy weapons and mechs, communication, basic tech, even a bit of history. After that, you'll choose your specialty. Some of you will choose to be pilots, or engineers, others will become combat soldiers, or agents of espionage. The staff will recommend to you what they think fits you best, but it is not mandatory to go that way. Whatever path you choose, I wish you the best of luck."

He motioned to one of the chiefs behind him, who brought up an envelope.

"Everyone here has done an exceptional job. However, we usually honor one student that has excelled. The chiefs have put their votes forward for who they think should be honored recruit."

The Commander opened the envelope, that held a badge and a certificate. "The student this year is…"

Jack held his breath. As much as he hated the Alliance, he wanted this as much as every other guy in there. Hell, he wanted it more. He'd gone through withdrawal in one of the worst environments, and still managed to keep pace with everyone else. He deserved this. He wanted it.

"Robert Stradlater."

Damn it. Stradlater had to be the most conceited, worthless guy Jack had ever met. His parents were filthy rich, and he was always going on about one of the many resort houses they had, or how many girls he'd gotten with, so on. If you could extract pure conceit and turn it into something vaguely human, you got Stradlater. No doubt he bribed all the chiefs to put his name up, because there was no way they'd pick him- always whining and complaining about how the sun was making his skin too dark. Of all things to complain about, he chose his skin. Worthless. It made Jack hate them even more. Stradlater got up to take the award, and was about to make a speech before the Commander spoke again.

"This year, I have taken some privileges of my own. There is one student here, that I also wish to honor. That student is Jack Shepard."

Jack sat there, dumbfounded. Kaidan ushered him up, where the Commander took him by his shoulders.

"I want to present to you, my own badge that I received while still a cadet." And with that, he unbuttoned the last badge on his uniform, and pinned it on Jack's breast pocket. Everyone clapped while Stradlater stood awkwardly on his own to the side, looking quite irked.

"You know more than they ever will." The Commander whispered to him. "You will go far where others will be scrambling at the start. You will succeed where many have failed. Good luck, Shepard."

* * *

Yay! Read and Review...or i'll do the puppy eyes again and guilt will follow you everywhere. teehee. just kidding. not. :P

Oh, and the next chapter will go in depth about Jack's withdrawal, since i barely described it here. Thanks! :) Oh and can anyone figure out who Stradlater is referring to? Free cookies if you do! :P


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